This invention relates to a force transducer in general and more particularly to an improved housing configuration for a transducer.
As is well known, the pressure transducer is widely employed in many industrial applications and the manufacturers of such devices have attempted to produce a low-cost, reliable transducer which is accurate and economical to manufacture. A major problem in the assembly of such transducers is the connection of the leads to the transducer structure.
In particular, transducers employ piezoresistive devices as the strain or force elements and these transducers are associated with even greater problems in regard to lead connection. Such devices are small and are normally fabricated from silicon and employ extremely thin diaphragms. Based on these factors, coupling leads to such structures becomes a difficult problem as, if extreme care is not taken, the diaphragm may rupture and crack or the connections to the piezoresistive device may not be adequate. Since a transducer is operated in a pressure transmitting environment, the entire device is subjected to pressure fluctuations normally associated with vibration which causes the housing containing the transducer to be subjected to large shocks and forces which tend to break leads or destroy the device.
Generally, techniques developed by the integrated circuit industry to bond or couple leads from a silicon chip into a low-cost header or housing are well developed. These techniques are cheap and reliable but to be efficiently employed, must use conventional transistor hardware which in general is not suitable for use as a pressure transducer housing. Such hardware lacks suitable means for connecting pressure, and furthermore, the leads are not sufficiently rugged to withstand the above noted problems associated with pressure transducers.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide for the use of a transistor header housing a transducer which is positioned in a rugged yet inexpensive housing and employs a novel interconnection system which uses tubular crimped or crimped and welded interconnections.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a low-cost pressure transducer which is incorporated in a rugged housing where the transducer device is further coupled to a connector or to external leads by means of crimped leads which provide excellent mechanical and electrical contact for the transducer device.